March 2012

March 29, 2012

For the quilting - I did my usual all-over stipple design in a light grey thread. For the binding - I had some left over pieces from the blocks so I cut those up and joined them together for the binding. I've now finished all those bits of fabric as well.

I'm very pleased with this quilt. I think it looks very summery almost and will be nice over a couch or table.

Finished size is 36" square.

This is a close up of the blocks. Each block is made up with 1 x 4.5" square and 2 x 2.5" squares. As you can see, you just rotate each second block along the row. My quilt has 9 blocks across and 6 rows down.

The best part about it, is you can make the quilt any size you like just by adding more blocks. You could also add a border but I didn't want to do that.

March 27, 2012

I was a member of the Patchwork on Stonleigh fabric club for years and years and when they closed I really missed my little parcels. I've been looking for a fabric club to take its place and when Meredith mentioned Somerset Patchwork and Quilting, I decided to check them out.

The fabric club is called 19th Century Fabric Samplings and you receive 16 x 10" squares of fabric every quarter.

I joined up and this is my first instalment.

Aren't they lovely? There's a lovely selection of fabrics - all reproductions which I love so much.

In this lot I particularly liked the pink fabrics. Can't seem to get enough of those at present.

Stitch Along block 3...

Meanwhile, I'm a little bit behind on my Stitch Along with Temecular Quilt co. I was away at Colour when Block 3 instructions came out and then there was the sewing maching service.

But, yesterday I made an attempt to catch up. I couldn't resist using some of the lovely fabric from my newest fabric club and chose a pretty blue.

I have the block 4 instructions from last week so will try to make before the next block instructions arrive.

Can't believe that March is almost over. Almost time to eat Easter eggs and hot cross buns. How amazing is that?

March 23, 2012

I picked up my sewing machine yesterday. I missed it so much that I braved torrential rain to get it. It's now purring away nicely (no more squeaky noise) and the technician left me a little note suggesting that I clean it more regularly. Felt a bit guilty about that.

Yesterday I had a sewing afternoon and have now finished piecing all of the blocks for my Picnic Quilt and it's all ready for quilting. I'm not sure why I was so worried about how the quilt would look because in the end I think it's great. I realised that I must have liked all the fabric at some stage because after all I did buy it and used most of it in different projects. So I'm not sure why I thought it would look bad.

If you look in the back left hand corner of the photo you will see Boots having an afternoon nap. He seems to like sleeping on my sewing table when I'm sewing. All the noise and fabric movement doesn't seem to both him at all.

Empty (almost) basket...

In my studio there is a basket where I keep fat quarters and larger pieces of fabric that I use for backing my quilts.

Sometimes I buy a pack of fat quarters and I might not like one of the pieces. That one will end up in the basket. Sometimes I buy fat quarters on sale - and they might end up in the basket. Then when I'm looking for a backing, I just join pieces together.

At the start of my Stash Busting Summer this basket was full but now there's only three pieces left.

I'm going to go through what's left of my stash, and transfer some fabric into the basket. Feel really good about that.

March 22, 2012

I haven't had much luck in choosing novels to read lately. The last couple I've started, I've made it half way through and lost interest. So when it came to choosing a book to take away with me last weekend I was a bit lost. A friend had given me The Help by Kathryn Stockett sometime ago but I had been reluctant to start it because I had seen the movie (twice) and loved it and books and movies don't always mix well for me.

But, because I didn't have anything else - I took it with me. And, I'm so glad I did. Once I started it I couldn't put it down.

The book (obviously) has a lot more space to explore the relationships of the main characters better and to give much greater insight into the time and place they lived in. You come to realise how special and unusual the friendship between Skeeter and Abileen was. It also showed the special friendship that was developing between Celia and Minny. Minny is definitely my favourite and I just pictured her as the actress in the movie. I was a bit surprised at Skeeter's mother in the book - she certainly would not have described her daughter as 'courageous' as her mother did in the movie. Stuart was another interesting character that was given more depth in the book. I liked the way that Skeeter could look at their relationship with honesty (when it was over) and realise that she didn't want to be like her friends. She was able to move to New York with closure and anticipation for the future.

March 19, 2012

It was nice to see that I'm not alone - most people seem to like to take along a project with them when they go away. I'm just back from Colour Conference for a couple of days. I took along my project bag with a stitchery in progress and wouldn't you know it? I didn't do any stitchery at all for the 4 days I was away! The only time I opened the project bag was to take out the scissors to use on something else.

Thanks for your comments. I have plugged them into the random number generator and number 2 came up. That's you Meredith. Congratulations. I hope you enjoy the pattern.

Colour...

I had a wonderful time at Colour. The speakers were fantastic as was the music, the food, the people. Everything in fact.

' Every year we are given a gift at the conference - something that represents the theme of the conference.

This year the theme was Revolution of Peace. We were all encouraged to take home the messages we heard and apply them to our lives. We were also made aware that we are not alone - that there are lots of women standing with us. At times we think we are insignificant and can't make a difference. But when each one of us joins with another - the influence is multiplied and strengthened. We have in us the capacity to change things. You can see the mug I bought - it has the slogan 'She is one, she is many' which reminds me that I am a part of something.

The gift was a beautiful prayer journal. It is divided into sections with each one representing the nations of the world. Each section has a photo of women in that region; a brief description which might include a testimony, bible verse or quote; and a space for me to record my prayers for them. It's beautifully presented and I'm determined that I'm going to commit to using it for its intended purpose and not just flick through the photos!

I was really tired today just trying to digest everything I heard on the weekend. I know that it will take a while for it all to outwork in my life. I can't wait until next year.

March 14, 2012

I managed to finish My Hexagon Garden design before I took my machine in for a service.

I machine quilted in the ditch of the border seams and hand quilted with Perle 8 thread around the hexagons, and inside the borders.

I joined together some left over pieces of fabric to make the backing and had enough strips of fabric left to make the binding. I added a hanging sleeve on the back so that I have the option of using it as a wallhanging if i want to.

I'm so glad that I didn't give up on hexagons but had another 'go' at them. I really enjoyed the handwork involved and plan to make some more hexagon projects in future.

The pattern is available in both printed and pdf formats on my website.

Colour Conference....

Tomorrow morning I'm heading off to Sydney for a couple of days to attend the Colour Conference (a women's conference presented by Hillsong Church). I'm so excited about going and have been looking forward to it for months. Whenever I go away I always like to take a craft project with me - something small and portable. This time I'm taking a stitchery project and I also thought I might throw in some knitting. The funny thing is, I don't always have time to do something when I'm away but I always feel better knowing that I have the option - just in case.

Giveaway...

Do you like to take a project with you when you go away? What is your preferred project? Knitting? Stitchery? Or maybe you prefer to have a break?

Just leave a comment about your preference between now and Monday morning and you will go into the draw to win a pdf version of My Hexagon Garden.

March 13, 2012

I waited patiently for Block 2 of the Stitch Along from Temecula Quilt Co to appear on their blog. Actually I think it was impatiently because on Wednesday I checked a couple of times until I realised that it wouldn't be posted until Thursday. And then in the end, I didn't actually have time to make it until Saturday.

As you can see, I chose a black print for the main fabric and a different background fabric than the first block. I'm going to use different fabrics for each block although the backgrounds will all be biege/cream fabrics. I had second thoughts about the main fabrics when I saw the sample on the blog because it seems that they have used similar fabrics for their blocks. But in the end decided I liked the idea of each block being different.

My piecing must be improving already because this block is better than the first one. Must be getting used to those little pieces.

March 12, 2012

The stitchery is completed and it's now all layered and pinned waiting to be quilted.

I'm going to do a combination of machine quilting and hand quilting with Perle 8 thread.

I have to be quick with the machine quilting because tomorrow my sewing machine is going in for a service. It's funny but I feel really anxious about being parted from my machine for a week (at least I hope it's only a week). I have my old Elna machine tucked away in the cupboard so if the worst comes to worst I can pull that out. But I will certainly miss my Bernina.

March 11, 2012

Yesterday I visited a couple of our local patchwork shops and came home with some beautiful new fabrics.

My first stop was Peppermint Stitches and I spied some lovely new fabric from Kim Diehl.

When I was going through my stash, I noticed that I'm really low on browns and greens in particular, so the 2 brown fabrics in the front were my first choice. I love the way she's mixed the pink and blue with the brown. I also couldn't resist the purple with the yellow flower - I always find purple fabric an essential in my stash. It's just a perfect zinger for a scrappy quilt. I have to admit that the green wasn't really a favourite but it's a nice small print and will be handy. The red and blue were just too nice to resist!

I then headed off to the Patchwork Tree and came away with some more lovely fabric. The fabric on the front left is an Anni Downs fabric (it's actually light green) and the green one next to it is a Buggy Barn fabric. Like purple fabric, I always find black is also essential in my stash - so that one just had to come home with me. The pink fabric is from Barbara Brackman's 1862 Battle Hymn range. Pretty isn't it?

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In 2012 we did the quilt called I am... based on the I am statements Jesus made in the book of John. If you would like more information please email me.